Last Saturday morning I decided to go to open gym instead of the crossfit class and make a start on a strength training program again. I’ve mentioned it a few times recently that my strength needs working on, so I’m going to try and make open gym on Saturdays wherever possible and slowly work through the stronglifts 5x5 program. This is going to be slow progress as I’m only doing the program once a week, when it’s supposed to be 3 times per week, however the Crossfit classes also contain progressive strength training, so this is merely supplementary to the programming, hoping to make up for time when I only manage to make the box twice a week due to being on tour etc.

I started fairly conservatively, 65kg on the squat I knew was achievable with good form, whilst still being hard enough for a workout. I probably should have started heavier on the bench and row, but I know that this will build up over time, and I’m in no rush.

I planned to get to the gym on Monday this week, but my girlfriend was ill and so I needed to get home from work and take over the household chores that she normally does while I'm at the gym (she's my true rock). As such I'm a day behind training this week, but I'm back tonight.

I used the skills session to try and work on chaining my kipping pull ups together. At the moment I can do several in one set, but I have to return to a dead hang and then kip again, wasting valuable time and energy and therefore making the whole movement much less efficient. I didn't progress very far with this, but I have I think worked out a way that I can practice this.

The WOD was fine, Rx was bar muscle ups, which I can’t do yet, and level 2 was chest-to-bar pull ups, which I've only ever done one of, so I opted for level 1. I did 7 pull ups in each round apart from the last, and I think I probably could have done more, the hardest part was that my grip was struggling due to the running in the rain.

I chose to do the Rx version of the lift, as I need to practice dropping down under the bar, and this was the only version that had the full squat snatch as part of the rep cycle. 25kg felt light to start with, but at the pace we were moving it quickly got heavy!

The WOD was a real burner! The 3 minutes rest in between stations was absolutely welcome, and I only ever felt slightly recovered before starting again. The wall balls were the real killer, I f*&^ing HATE WALL BALLS!

Last night was the last session at the box until next week as I’m off on tour tonight and don’t get back until the early hours of Tuesday morning. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to swing by Crossfit Moscow and pick up a shirt.

Great log Andi, love the training! I'm just starting to get an appreciation of CF after reading some articles about Froning. Strong as hell and a great physique to boot. Can you explain what the Wall Balls are?Keep up the good work, enjoy your weekend buddy MF.

Cheers, on the way to Russia as we speak.Yes froning is a beast. An insane level of fitness and strength combined.Wall balls.Grab a medicine ball (usually 9kg for men 7kg for women but you make that decision yourself) with both hands at chest level.Squat down and as you return to standing throw the medicine ball up to hit the wall above a 10ft mark.Catch the ball and repeat.

Hey! First time i pop out in your journal, i should have done it earlier... I definitely have to go back to the box and have some wod!Anyway, i updated my workout playlist with some of your song xD! Have a nice stay in Russia!!(I hate the lack of sleep too D: )

Thanks for the interest guys. I'm back from tour now and have now I think caught up on my eating and sleeping after not much of either went on over the weekend. I still won't be able to make the gym until the earliest Monday as I'm in the studio, I have to knock a wall down in my house, and then another gig in London on the weekend.

This was my first “Dawn Patrol” session, which is the nickname the 6:30am class at Celtic Crossfit has been given. I need to free up more time in the evenings so I'm planning on attending more of these, as long as it keeps on working out with the transport to work.

All in all, a brilliant session. I decided to go at 35kg for the split jerk as there was an element of metcon there with the on the minute every minute for ten rounds, but I actually think I could have gone higher as none of the reps felt like a struggle. Note for next time.

Oh Fran, how we all hate you. For some reason I didn't have written down what weight I used last time I did this benchmark WOD, so I took a guess and used 25kg, but still did not quite finish. I was 9 pull ups away when the 10 minute time cap elapsed. After checking my online diary later on I discovered that I have previous finished this benchmark in 10:21 at 30kg, which is somewhat annoying as I was nowhere near beating that this time. I think we’re repeating this soon, so I hope to at least finish in the time cap next time.

It felt great getting the workout out of the way that early, but I should probably look into fuelling myself a bit better as I felt like I burned out very quickly in the WOD. I'll have another bash at the Thrive direct energy bites and see whether there's any notable difference between that and the oats I had around 30 minutes before this session.

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